Megaman the Zero Saga: Return of a Warrior
by eclipse2012
Summary: Lyra Matsurba is a young girl with a stormy past. After the death of her parents, she moves to Japan with her siblings to start a new life. Little does she know that a birthday gift will lead her on a grand adventure that is full of twists and turns. Will she discover that life isn't as bad as she believes it to be, or will she uncover a dark secret that she can't handle?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Okay, for those of you who are thinking "what the heck is Eclipse thinking?" stop that line of thought right there. I've read over a few stories by various authors and decided that the Zero Saga needs re-vamped once again. A lot of things will remain the same, but this new version will have better explanations, and hopefully not too much detail. It also might contain a few deviations from the original version, but nothing too major. Luckily, I have no reason to change the title, so it'll still be easy to find. For those who have been following this story, I sincerely apologize. I am capable of doing better, and I will see to it that this story is written to the best of my ability! And to all the readers, followers, favorites, and reviewers of this story, I hope you all like the re-vamped version. **

**Disclaimer: You all know the drill, but just so I don't have to deal with this again, I will go ahead and detail everything. I do not own anything that belongs to Capcom. Characters from any Megaman series that I mention belong to their respective owners. Ideas that seem familiar and are from other animes or games also belong to their respective owners. Be aware that my OCs are mine, and mine alone. Anyhow, without further ado, here's the newly re-vamped MMZS 1: Return of a Warrior!**

Megaman the Zero Saga: Return of a Warrior

Prologue

Rain drops fell to the ground. Dead leaves littered the large lawns of dying grass, while the trees stood tall with their long bare branches stretching up to the sky. Above them, the sky was filled with grey clouds, each raining its own ammunition down on the world below. All of this would seem typical for a fall day, but unfortunately, it was no ordinary day. Beneath the web of bark, a small tent had been set up. Inside, many people stood around a hole in the ground. All of them wore some sort of black garb, whether it be a dress or suit. Each person had a somber look on their face as they stared at the soon to be grave.

The small crowd parted as a group of men carrying a black coffin entered the tent. The coffin had a white cloth cast over its lid, and on top of that was a small bouquet of flowers. The coffin bearers circled around the large indention in the ground as they positioned the large box above it. In front of the large crowd of family members of deceased, a young girl's eyes nailed on the exterior of the coffin. She was clad in a long black dress, paired with a black hat with a net veil. Her dark brown hair was braided over to the side. Beside her, five other children stood, each expressing their grief in their own way. Four of them were crying, while the fifth looked on with a somber face.

As all this went on around her, the girl continued to stare at the coffin. But rather than focusing on the outside, she focused on what was inside. Just thinking about it made her stomach churn and tears stung the edges of her eyes. She grimaced audibly as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Flowers were passed about the family members in final remembrance of their lost member, and a scarlet rose was passed to her. She stared down at the flower, and for whatever reason, thought of the newly dead. Tears fell on the petals of the rose, clinging to the flower for all but a second before falling to the ground below.

Two days later, she returned along with the five children, this time accompanied by strange men and women clad in black suits and shades. The girl stepped up to the new grave. She knelt on the ground before it, stroking its smooth marble surface in remembrance. As one final gesture, she took the rose, now wilting, and placed it in the pot attached to the grave. She stood once again and took one final glance at the words on the grave, since it would likely be her last time.

_Rosanna Matsurba_

_1958-2000_

_A mother, hard worker, and friend_

_Gone, but not forgotten_

"_Always look towards the light"_

**Author's Note: Alright, that's the prologue for ya. Tell me what you think n either a review or PM message. I wrote this chapter to give an idea of how Lyra was before the story started, so yeah. This is Eclipse2012 signing off!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman. At all. **

**And now for answering reviews!**

**FourthWallBreaker: Yes, that was a dark beginning, wasn't it? Anyhow, Zero won't be showing up until next chapter or so, so hang tight!**

**blee7442: Yes I pulled this again. I would have been irked to no end by all the typos and implausibility of some chapters, so here I'm again. And believe me, I've changed a bit more than I thought I would.**

**LunaClefairy: Yes, as I said before, I pulled a re-vamp again. And don't worry about being a Zero fangirl; I'm one too! Oh, and let's not forget Solo; I have plans for him later. Much later. Anyhow, I'm happy that you've enjoyed all versions of this story and I hope that this one is enjoyable too!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Awakening**

DenTech City. A place of excitement and intrigue, along with a few quirks considering the people that lived there. It could oftentimes be thought of as a computer science hub, but more often than not, it was a place many called home. Every now and again, new people would pop up. Some came to start new lives; others came in order to study at one of the many renowned universities. But every now and again, some special person would pop up, and along with them, a great adventure would begin. Little did one girl know that she was that person, and that it was her time to shine…

* * *

It was about 7:45 in the morning. Gray clouds still dotted the morning sky, almost like it had rained the previous day. Far beneath the clouds, a young girl dashed down a city block. She looked to be in a hurry, and if the over the shoulder bag was anything to go by, she was probably running late for school.

The girl looked no older than thirteen. She had a toned build, but she still had the look of a young girl. Her hair was glossy brown and it went down to the middle of her back. Almost contradictory to the dark color of her hair, bright forest green eyes glimmered underneath her bangs. Currently, she wore a long black trench coat, but underneath it, a white spaghetti strap shirt covered her upper body. Over it, a black sleeveless vest was drawn across her curved shoulders. She also wore a jean skirt that stopped at least two to three inches above her knees, but even that was covered by her long coat. A brown belt was secured in the belt loop of her skirt and a holster for some sort of device was attached to her hip. Under the skirt, white leggings covered the tiny bit of skin that was left exposed, but they disappeared into a pair of black combat boots. Other than that, black fingerless gloves were the only other things she wore. The girl came to a screeching halt at a stop sign and bounced on the tips of her toes as she eagerly waited for the signal to change.

_Darn it! I'm going to be late! _She thought in alarm. Multiple cars whisked by, oftentimes splashing her with water from puddles that had formed from the previous night's rainstorm. With no means of blocking the water, she got soaked. She groaned and wrung out the edges of her coat, but her jacket was the least of her worries.

After a good thirty seconds, the light changed and she charged across the street. As she dodged between pedestrians, she looked over at the large iron gates of a school building on the next block. The place was at least five stories tall, but it was designed like a normal public school. Which was a little ironic since it was about five times bigger than average. She sprinted across the last cross walk to just outside the rod iron gates. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she strode in. Her overcoat was still soaked, but at least she had the smarts to wear it over her main outfit.

_Okay, first day of school in a new place. No pressure or anything. Not. _She thought bitterly as she entered through the school's large double doors. Many students still roamed the halls, often lingering by lockers or talking with friends. The brunette held her breath as the curious gazes of multiple other students burned into her. On impulse, she hunched her shoulders, shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, and quickened her pace as she strode down the hall.

_Please quit staring. Please, please, please quit staring! Ga, it's only my first day and I'm already getting more attention than I'd like. _The girl thought distastefully.

The young girl made her way to the staircase and began to work her way up it. As she walked up, she bumped shoulders with many other students making their way up and down the narrow stairwell. Upon reaching the fourth floor, she quietly shuffled through the hallways to her homeroom, which was room 4A-8.

She stopped in front of the door. _This must be the place_. As she reached for the door knob, a wave of nervousness got the better of her. _I can't do this!_

To calm herself down, she faced the hallway. In front of her, many windows extended both ways along the wall. Through them, she could see outside the school's walls and out into the street, where the city was still waking up. As she continued to calm herself, a boy her age with red hair walked by. He appeared to be engrossed with something on the screen of the device her was carrying._ Wait, what the heck is that on that guy's screen?_

Her green eyes nailed on the blue device in his hand, which she knew to be a PET-short for Personal Terminal. The boy was talking to a person on the screen, but it wasn't through video feed. The boy laughed at the "person's" joke and continued walking as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Her hand unconsciously wandered to her own PET, which was secured in her belt holster, where she knew her own un-personalized navi resided.

_Man, I wish I had a customized netnavi_. She thought in envy.

She shook off the wistful thought and made a slightly aggravated face as she turned back to the door. _Oh screw that, I have more important things to worry about! Okay, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this. What's the worst that can happen?_ With a final breath of reassurance, she gripped the door knob. She twisted it and pushed open the door as she took her first steps inside her new surroundings. Standard desks were lined up in rows in front of a particularly large white board and desk. Posters and maps decked the walls of the large room, each either showing some sort of basic information or giving tidbits of advice. Students mingled amongst one another, talking to each other and netnavis alike. The teacher's desk was vacant, so the girl assumed the teacher wasn't there yet. _Well, at least nobody's looked at me yet._

Apparently, Murphy heard her, because right as she thought that, the door somehow slammed shut behind her. At the sound, heads turned to look at the new arrival. Most of them were of alarm, but once her new classmates had seen that she wasn't the teacher, they went back to relaxing. Many others looked away as well, probably because she looked like a drowned rat. Despite that, she wasn't discouraged. She hadn't wanted to be noticed in the first place, so it actually worked out for her. As she glanced around, she took notice of an empty desk. No one was occupying it. The female tip-toed over and set her bag down next to her new desk. She shrugged off her partially-soaked jacket and set it on the back of her chair. A few seconds later, a sharp whistle was released from one of her new classmates. After that, other whistles and whispers were let out, almost like a chain reaction. As such, she sank into her seat in embarrassment. As the whispering died down, she decided that it was safe enough to take out her PET. When she did, she was faced with a standard grey netnavi, who was waiting for her to either give an order or ask for a reminder. As she turned her gaze around the room, she noticed that most if not all of her classmates' netnavis were customized. She sighed in mild depression as she jacked her navi into the school net. To pass the time, she got out a sketch pad and a pencil and began to draw idly.

Not five minutes later, the teacher walked in and cleared her throat. The girl looked up in alarm and abruptly shoved the pad back into her bag. Just like her, the rest of the students hurried back to their seats and jacked their navis into the computer system for the day. The girl once again felt a pang of jealousy in her heart as she wished that she too has a customized partner. The teacher stood behind her desk and wrote a phrase on the board in Japanese characters. While she couldn't read Japanese characters, the girl knew what it said.

It was her name.

"Good morning class!" the teacher chimed comely.

"Good morning Mrs. Isabel!" all the students-minus the girl- chorused in return.

The teacher smiled to the class warmly. "Well, today we have a new student joining us from overseas!" the teacher's gaze feel on the girl, who was doing her best to appear smaller than she was, "Can you please come up in front of the class and tell us your name young lady?"

The girl nodded and stood up. She walked to the front of the class with her head tipped downward in nervousness. Her strides were mechanical and calculated, but despite her stiff movements, it looked smooth to everyone else. She could feel the gazes of her fellow students bare into her; almost like there were dozens of needles stabbing into her skin. Once she was standing in front of the teacher's desk, Mrs. Isabel smiled and nodded in reassurance.

"Go on ahead," the teacher urged gently.

The brunette took a deep breath and exhaled, finally ready to properly present herself.

"My name's Lyra. It's nice to meet you," she greeted shyly.

Approving nods and whistles answered her. She blushed in response, but didn't say a word.

"Now I expect you all to welcome Lyra, alright?" the teacher added upon seeing Lyra's embarrassed and shy demeanor. Nods of affirmation rippled through the room, although some students let out exasperated sighs, almost as if they had heard this lecture a million times. Lyra saw those sighs and exasperated looks, and instantly knew that they were the people she needed to keep an eye on. Experience had taught her that many times in the past. As she strode back to her seat, her gaze caught that of a silver haired girl who sat in the seat to the right of hers. The silver haired female still stared at her, even as she sat down.

_Okay…definitely not creepy. _Lyra thought sarcastically.

Luckily, the girl's attention was diverted when the teacher began talking. Lyra, who was still mildly perturbed, opened up her desk computer along with her other classmates as class began.

* * *

Two periods later, Lyra sat down at lunch with a sandwich on her plate. It had been in the microwave for a little while, so the meat was nice and warm. Aside from the small bag of barbeque chips that were on her tray, she had nothing else to eat. Upon leaving the lunch register, she busied herself with attempting to find a table that wasn't occupied by other people. She found one in the corner of the lunch hall by a large window. With a small smirk of satisfaction, she walked over and sat down, only looking up from her food to watch other students at other tables.

As she continued to nibble away at her sandwich, the same silver-haired girl from before sat down next to her. Lyra's shoulders tensed immediately at the new presence, and she was only more compelled to finish her meal and leave. She could fell the girl's eyes baring into her, and she didn't like it. Silence reigned for a few more moments before something Lyra didn't expect happened.

"You're a bit of a loner, aren't you?" the female next to her asked.

Lyra stopped with her sandwich half-way to her mouth. She placed the food back down on her place and dared to look over at her new acquaintance. She had storm-grey eyes and pale complexion, giving her the look of some sort of ghost. Her clothes consisted of a purple tank top and a black skirt. Black combat boots encased her calves while elbow-high black fingerless gloves covered her forearms. Around her neck was a yin-yang necklace. Despite her goth-like dress, Lyra couldn't find herself fearing her.

"Yeah, I guess…" she muttered.

The girl next to her smiled. "I thought so. I'm kind of the same way. My name's Alicia and this is my netnavi Kitsune."

Alicia pulled out her PET to reveal a foxlike navi staring at Lyra. It was clearly female, just like her operator. A purple yin-yang symbol was imprinted on her forehead and thigh armor. Armor covered her chest, forearms, and legs. Her head was that of a fox; she had ears and everything. She also had five separate tails, each on tipped with a flame-like plume of white fur against the normal gold. Each of her hands had only three fingers had only three fingers on its white-gloved hands. The navi mark she possessed was a traditional black and white yin-yang symbol that took up the whole emblem. She had gleaming blue eyes and long silver hair, which was currently braided. The fox nodded in silent greeting to Lyra, who was currently mystified by the navi's appearance.

Lyra blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected her and her navi to introduce themselves. "I-I'm Lyra. Lyra Matsurba. I don't have a personalized navi like everyone else, so it's just me."

The girl, now known as Alicia, nodded. "I thought that's who you were. You're Dr. Matsurba's granddaughter, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Lyra inquired.

"Well, he is a well-known netnavi researcher, but he's not as famous as Dr. Hikari."

Lyra tipped her head down. "Oh. I see…"

She wondered into deep thought for a few moments. Not two seconds later, Alicia snapped her out of it. "So! What about you?"

Lyra looked up in surprise. "Hmm?"

"What about you? Just because you're Dr. Matsurba's granddaughter doesn't say anything about you. What do you like to do?" Alicia asked as Lyra took a bite out of her sandwich.

The brunette stopped chewing momentarily. She swallowed and nervously flicked her eyes back and forth as she tried to focus on anything else other than Alicia. "Well, I, uh…"

Luckily, she was saved by the bell. Literally.

The ringing noise was high pitched and loud. It echoed through the whole lunchroom, causing students to leave their seats and return to their classrooms with a sense of urgency.

Alicia stood up. "We should go. We can talk later."

Lyra also got to her feet. "Yeah, definitely. Besides, I wouldn't want to be late to class on my first day."

The silver-haired girl standing next to her laughed aloud. "Darn straight! I got on a teacher's bad side once and it landed me in the principal's office!"

Lyra felt her facial muscles tug at her mouth in an unfamiliar manner. It was something that she hadn't done in a long time, and why it was popping up now was beyond her. But despite how foreign it felt, she knew what it was.

It was a smile. Reserved maybe, but a smile nonetheless.

Alicia blinked in surprise. Since that morning, she hadn't seen her new acquaintance display any sort of emotion. It made her wonder why that was.

By the time Alicia snapped out of it, Lyra was a good fifteen feet away from her. The emerald-eyed female looked over her shoulder at her silver-haired companion. "You coming?"

Alicia gave a quick nodded and jogged up behind her.

* * *

Three boring hours later, the bell rung for at least the sixth time that day. Lyra shut her computer with a sigh. _Done…_ she thought in relief. She leaned back in her chair and shut her blood-shot eyes. Alicia looked over to her with a smile. The new girl was a lot like her.

After a few seconds, Lyra re-opened her eyes and grabbed her bag from off the floor beside her desk. She stood quietly and jacked out her netnavi. The girl walked out into the hall, which was quite crowded since all the classes were letting out at once. She was caught up in the wave of students and was unable to stop walking, even if she wanted to. She forced herself to bear the crowd as she was roughly shouldered down the staircase. By the time she actually got to the ground floor, she had tripped at least six times. The crowd started to disperse since the hallways on the first floor were larger than those on the upper floors. Now that she had some more breathing room, Lyra slowed her pace down and leisurely walked out the double doors of the building. Once outside, she took the time to notice that the schoolyard was occupied by many students who just appeared to be hanging out.

As she made her way across the large yard, a voice from behind stopped her in her tracks.

"Lyra!" came the familiar yell.

The girl turned around to find Alicia running towards her. The silver haired female jogged up to her side and took a few seconds to catch her breath.

"Hey Alicia. What's up?" Lyra asked in wonder, but if one listened hard enough, they could hear a slight hint of amusement.

"You're headed home, right?" the panting female inquired.

"Yeah. What are you getting at?"

"Well, I was wondering if we could walk home together. Is that alright with you?" she requested.

Lyra raised an eyebrow in slight curiosity. "Sure, but do even live in the same area as me?"

Alicia nodded. "Yeah. You live on the west side, right?"

"Sure do."

"Then we live in the same area," Alicia said affirmatively.

Lyra blinked, but nodded nonetheless. _Well waddya know? I might just have a friend living in the same neighborhood as me._

The two girls exited out of the wall that encircled the school. In a matter of a few minutes, they'd left the rod iron gates of DenTech Academy far behind them. The duo began to chat, oftentimes discussing subjects like pop culture, favorite hobbies, and video games. As they approached another one of the many stoplights on their way home, Alicia changed the current subject that they had been talking about.

"So how come you don't live with your parents? I mean, it's great that you live with your gramps and all, but don't your parents at least live nearby?" she inquired.

Lyra stopped dead in her tracks. The brunette's eyes gained a rather sorrowful look and she soon redirected her glance to the cement below her feet.

Alicia, upon noticing her companion's reaction, instantly became guilty. "Oh I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked!"

Lyra looked up with a half-hearted smile. "Don't worry about it. You just took me by surprise, that's all."

"So I'm guessing you still won't answer my question?"

Lyra sighed and shook her head. "No. I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not exactly ready to re-tell the whole thing just yet," she explained.

"Oh. I see."

"However, I will say one thing. Both of my parents are dead," Lyra added with a somber expression.

Alicia looked over once again in partial shock and horror. She blinked a few times, unable to form an intelligible response. Meanwhile, Lyra kept her gaze locked on a small pebble at her feet.

After a few moments of silence, Alicia spoke again. "Well," she started rather awkwardly, "Never mind then. Just forget I asked."

"Sure."

Alicia coughed before speaking again. "So I was wondering. Why don't you have your own personalized netnavi? I mean, your grandfather is a netnavi scientist after all."

Lyra looked back up again. "Oh that? Well, we kind of have a long standing tradition in our family. You see, even back when I lived in America, we didn't get our netnavis until our birthday."

"You mean your parents never told you when you would get one?"

"They always said maybe, but it was never an affirmative answer. My brother received his personalized navi before I did," Lyra stated with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Seriously? That's hardly fair," Alicia replied.

"I know right? But it's not like I mind or anything. I'll get mine when the time is right. No sooner and no later."

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "Wow, someone's mature."

Lyra cracked a smile. "Let's just say that certain experiences do that to you."

The two girls shared a laugh and continued on their way jut as the light changed. The duo crossed the street and entered a neighborhood. Houses lined both sides of the street and cars whisked up and down the main drag. Children played outside on the front lawns with their parents watching them from afar. Lyra smiled as she passed by a family playing Frisbee. The child had caught it and threw it to the father, who caught it expertly. From the front porch, the mother watched with a smile as she cradled a baby in her arms. Lyra looked on enviously as she walked by. _Why can't my family be like that?_

Alicia, upon noticing her companion was spacing out, waved a hand in front of her face. "Lyra!"

No answer.

Alicia walked in front of her. "Lyra!"

Once again, no answer.

"Hey! Earth to Lyra! I'm talking to you! HEY!"

With that last yell, the brunette jumped in surprise. "Huh? What?"

Alicia put her hands on her hips. "You were zoning out. Does that happen often?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately…" she muttered a bit more quietly.

Alicia put on a smile again. "Well, whatever! C'mon, we've got to get you back home!"

"Uh, yeah. Sure!"

"Well," Alicia grabbed Lyra's hand, "Let's go!"

With that, the silver-haired girl dragged the poor female down the sidewalk.

"Hey! Don't drag me!" Lyra screeched in protest. Alicia only laughed and continued to drag her by her hand.

After a good five minutes, Alicia finally stopped running. Lyra, now free from her surprising strong grip, bent over panting.

"Here we are!" Alicia declared proudly. Lyra looked up to find that she was standing in front of her house.

The building was two stories high. It had a covered front porch with a porch swing. The front lawn was large, and flowers were planted in the flower beds in front of the home. A few meters away from the front door, a driveway led up to the garage door. A fence extended off the house's right side, which suggested that it had a backyard. The house was made out of wood and stone, giving it a bit of a rustic look.

Lyra looked up at Alicia in suspicion. "How'd you know that this was my house?"

"Simple. I looked up your address in the directory before we left."

"Stalker…" Lyra mumbled more to herself than anyone else.

Alicia apparently heard her. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Lyra lied. Alicia stared at her suspiciously for a few seconds longer before she returned to her cheery demeanor.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!" With that, the silver-haired female ran off down the road, only raising her hand in good-bye as she did.

"See you…" Lyra said half-heartedly. For a few seconds longer than needed, she continued to stare after the eccentric female. _She sure is strange… _

After a few minutes, she finally let out a sigh and walked into her house, completely disregarding the fact that her good-bye had been directed at no one. Once inside the door, Lyra took off her shoes and set them on a shoe rack. Even though she'd been in Japan for only a few months, she had learned that it was respectful to take off your shoes before entering a house.

She entered the living room and flopped down on the couch in front of the TV. The living room itself was nothing special. It consisted of a couch, two arm chairs, a coffee table, and a TV set. The couch and arm chairs were chocolate brown in color and were made of soft fabric. The coffee table and TV stand were made of wood that was almost the same color as the other furniture. The carpeted floor was a simple cream color. Lyra sighed and shut her eyes. _School…so freaking boring…_

As she was relaxing, Lyra was blissfully unaware of the smaller figure creeping up behind her.

In a split second, two things happened. One, Lyra's day was brightened up. Two, she just about had a heart attack.

The smaller figure leapt onto the couch cushion beside her. "Boo!"

Lyra shuddered violently in surprise. In fact, she shuddered so bad that she fell off the couch.

Lyra's younger brother Lee plopped down beside the cushion she had been sitting on. "Hey sis!" he chimed with a mischievous smile on his face.

Lyra climbed back onto the couch and shot a glare at her younger sibling. "Lee! Don't do that to me! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she panted in shock.

Lee was a bit small for an eight year old. He had a mop of chocolate brown hair, which was paired with green eyes just like his older sister. He wore a pair of jean shorts and a sky blue shirt, which was paired with a set of white sneakers. Just like his sibling, he too had a holster for a PET in his belt loop.

At her statement, Lee's smile only grew. "Well, at least it wasn't a bucket of ice water."

Lyra placed her elbows on her knees and massaged her temples. "I swear, if you ever do that to me again, I am going to freaking murder you!"

Lee laughed at her bluff. "Except that you won't 'cause I'm your brother!"

Lyra had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Ugh, just go back upstairs and play with Ash."

"You're no fun," Lee pouted. Regardless, the boy left, allowing his sister to relax for a bit.

After a few moments of listening to her brother's footsteps echoing through the floors above her, the brunette let out a sigh of relief. _Finally I get some peace and quiet. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to put up with them…_ Lyra turned her head to the side and stared out the living room window. It was almost sundown. The darkening sky was dyed a myriad of reds, pinks, purples, and oranges. It made sense, especially since fall was fast approaching. Not to mention that a very special occasion was coming up. _Well, at least some of them are easy to deal with. I wonder when gramps is getting home tonight? He's pulled quite a few late nights this week…_

* * *

Meanwhile, in someplace not even humans could reach, two beings floated in a strange void. One was simple manifested as a blue light, while the other was manifested as a red light. The space around them shifted colors every few seconds, but the void where the sun might have been shone with white light.

The red light was the first to speak. _So we're going back again?_

The blue light spoke next. _Yes. We're returning to the world of the living._

The red light nodded in response. _I'm guessing this isn't some sort of vacation._

_Yes, we're back because of a few…mishaps._

The red light groaned. _Great. So the world needs us again._

The blue light narrowed its eyes, or at least tried to if it had any eyes, at its companion. _Look, we're going back whether we like it or not. If we don't do this then the world is doomed._

_I know, and I don't have a problem with this. It's just that you'd think there would be heroes in this day and age. _The red light replied.

The blue light smiled_. There are, but even heroes need a little help every now and again. Besides, the mother elf sent some help ahead of us anyway._

The red light sighed_. At least we aren't alone in this._

_Agreed. Let's get going._

With that, both lights disappeared from the odd limbo, presumably to go wherever they were needed.

* * *

At Scilab, Professor Nathaniel Matsurba leaned back from his personal computer. He'd been sorting data and running experiments all day in his personal office with no breaks except for lunch and the occasional snack. The office consisted of a desk with a laptop on it, a chair, and a separate desk, which was pushed against the left wall, for running experiments. The back wall was simply a large window, allowing the professor to look out into SciLab's large complex.

Another scientist walked into the room as he was taking a break. He was wearing a labcoat, but underneath it, he wore a tan-colored shirt and a pair of khakis with a set of dress shoes. "Oh, Dr. Matsurba! Getting a bit tired are we?"

Nathaniel looked back at his guest and laughed. "What can I say Dr. Hikari? I've pulled quite a few late nights this week."

Dr. Hikari laughed along with him. "I'll say! You pulled at least four late shifts last week!"

"Yes, unfortunately. I can't imagine how my granddaughter is taking this."

"True. How is she anyway?" the navi scientist asked.

"She's been well. She's still getting over the death of her mother, but she's recovering. Her brothers have already moved on, but she's still lingering," Nathaniel answered somberly.

"Oh. Well, be sure to give her my regards."

"I will."

Dr. Matsurba looked back to his computer screen and resumed work. Just as he had opened up a few charts, a data surge sent streams of code running across his screen. Dr. Matsurba squinted at the code, and after reading a few lines of it, realized that it was the code for a netnavi, two of them in fact.

"Dr. Hikari, come over here a minute, would you?" he requested with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"What is it Nathaniel?" that doctor asked as he walked over.

The scientist turned his computer screen towards his compatriot. "What do you make of this?"

The navi scientist studied the screen for a few seconds. "Well, it looks to me like some of their data is missing."

"I noticed that too. But it's more like the data is damage rather than missing. If you look here, some of the data is fragmented rather than gone," Dr. Matsurba pointed out.

"You're right…" Dr. Hikari breathed.

Silence reigned for a few minutes as the two went over the data.

Dr. Hikari broke the silence. "Based upon what we can see, they're not in the best condition. Can you still repair them?"

Dr. Matsurba nodded. "Yes, but something is bothering me about this whole situation."

"What's eating at you Nathaniel?" his companion asked.

"Well, I received five other navis in this identical condition only a few months ago. And I haven't even gotten around to repairing the last one yet! It just strikes me as odd that two other navis would show up like this."

Dr. Hikari covered his mouth with his hand as he threw the statement around in his head. "Well," he began, "it is strange when you think about it, but the question still stands. Are you going to repair them or not?"

Dr. Matsurba went quiet. After a moment, he spoke. "Yes. I refuse to leave any navi in that condition."

Dr. Hikari smiled as he watched his friend begin to work on the two navis. A few minutes later, two symbols appeared on the computer screen. On was a silver X, and the other was a red Z.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I am so sorry for the long wait. I have been busy as heck with high school and heck knows what else. Anyhow, I hope you all have enjoyed the re-vamped chapter. Please R&R or PM your thoughts to me. I'll see you all next chapter, but until then, this is Eclipse2012 logging o**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman… you know what? Just look at the disclaimer in the prologue if you want it. I'm a bit sick of the disclaimer anyway…**

**And now onto answering reviewers.**

**LunaClefairy: I'm happy that you're enjoying the first chapters. And now that I think about it, it has been a year since my last version was published, hasn't it? Oh well, sometimes things happen! I just thought that I should at least follow the seasonal patterns so the passing of time is perceptible.**

**FourthWallBreaker: Yes, this time around, Zero will have no body to inhabit. I just thought that was a bit too far-fetched. And as for the guardians of Neo Arcadia, well, you'll find out soon!**

**blee7442: I 'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the first chapter. And I hope you enjoy the other ones as well!**

**Yugaosghost: This story follows along with the NT Warrior saga, so you can expect to see quite a few characters from NT Warrior in here!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Absolutely Zero**

The next morning, waking up was as painful as it was slow for Lyra. A high pitched alarm blared. Sunlight seeped through her bedroom window and pooled on her bed, and most of it was directly on her face. The brunette groaned and pulled some of the extra covers over her head in a vain attempt to muffle the noise and keep the morning rays out of her face. She tossed and turned in her bed in an effort to fall back asleep. After a good five minutes of this, the young girl let out an exasperated groan and sat up.

She looked like she'd been but through the wringer and pulled back through the other way. She had dozens of flyaway hairs and the majority of her chocolate locks were frizzed out to the extreme. Her eyes had small bags under them, which was a sure sign of drowsiness. With a sigh, Lyra slapped the off button of her digital clock and tossed her legs over the side of the bed. She stood, allowing her nightgown to fall to its proper length around her calves.

The grey-blue walls of her room shone sky blue in the early morning light. The azure covers of her bed had gained a bright blue sheen where the sunlight hit it. On the other side of her room, the sunlight finally cast its rays across her dresser and desk, creating elongated shadows on the carpeted floor.

Lyra stood and strode over to the sliding door that led out to her porch. The door was next to her window. Light poured through the glass pane that separated her room from the outside. With a small breath, she pulled open the door and stepped out into the crisp autumn air. The porch overlooked her backyard, which was a wide expanse that contained a few trees along the fence and in the middle of the yard. All around, birds chirped and sang their songs as first rays of the morning wormed their way into the world. Unlike the previous day, the sky was clear of any clouds whatsoever. A sharp, cold breeze stirred the fallen leaves on the ground below the platform. Lyra stretched her arms upward to greet the morning, yawning as she did so.

With that done, she went back inside. She slid the door shut behind her and strode over to her closet. She pulled out an outfit near-identical to the one she'd worn the other day with the only difference being that instead of a jean skirt, there was just a pair of jeans. The still drowsy brunette then walked over to the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind her as she entered. A few seconds afterwards, the sound of running water was heard from behind the door.

A good ten minutes later, Lyra walked out of her bathroom in her outfit for the day. Her hair was still slightly wet, but it was brushed out and no longer frizzy. She hurried over to her nightstand and snatched her PET off its charger. For a split second, the screen flashed a few reminders at her, but they went ignored as Lyra grabbed her bag off the floor. She walked out into the upstairs hallway, which contained a total of three doors. Two were to the rooms of her brothers, and the other one was to her sister's room. She turned right, heading towards the staircase. Her footsteps made soft thudding sounds on the wooden floor as she strode towards the stairwell.

The staircase led straight into the kitchen. At one of the counters, a brunette boy about Lyra's size was cooking what looked to be eggs. In the center of the room, four people sat at a table. Three were male, and the last one was female. Two of the boys had brown hair and looked almost exactly alike, while one had dirty blond hair. The only girl at the table looked to be about a year younger than they were, and she had white-blond hair. All four children were so absorbed in their own conversations and tasks that they didn't even notice Lyra walk in.

Lyra put a small smile on her face and sat down at one if the free chairs at the table. The chair made a rough scrapping sound against the floor, alerting the others in the room to her presence.

The little girl was the first to speak up. "Moring sis!" she chimed happily.

Lyra held back the urge to laugh at her sister's enthusiasm. "Good morning Lizzie."

Elizabeth, or Lizzie for short, put on a toothy smile. Lee, who was sitting next to Elizabeth, also smiled. "Morning sis! Are you glad that I didn't go through with my plan?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. "If it involved the bucket of water you brought up yesterday, then yes. Why can't you act like Ash every now and again?"

Ash, who was sitting next to Lyra, shot a smug look towards Lee. He was the same size as Lee, which made sense because they were almost identical twins. The only difference between the two was that Ash had green eyes while Lee had blue eyes. He wore a light blue shirt and jean shorts, which were paired with light blue sneakers. In the middle of his shirt was a circular red emblem with a black X crossed over it.

Lee glared at his twin brother. "Well, maybe I don't because life would be boring that way. There's got to be some chaos here and there!"

"Yeah, but pranking your own family? Isn't that a bit much?" Ash asked with a skeptical, yet amused, look on his face.

Lee let out a "humph" of annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest. Lyra smiled at her brothers' antics, as did Elizabeth.

After a few minutes of laughter, the boy with the dirty blond hair spoke. "So sis, have you seen gramps?"

His sister sighed. "I don't know Trey. He didn't pull an all-nighter again, did he?"

Trey shrugged in response. Up at the counter, the boy who had been cooking cast a glance over his shoulder. His green eyes flashed underneath his brown bangs. "I don't think he did. I was up a bit later than usual last night and I could have sworn I heard him walk in."

Lyra groaned in exasperation. "Alright. Thanks Sam. But try not to stay up so late. You and I both know that you need your rest, especially since you have soccer every day for two hours."

"Sam, I do believe she's right oh this one. You did stay up a bit too late," a male voice sounded from his PET.

Sam reached into his holster and pulled out the PET. On his screen, a green humanoid navi stared back at him. He had green eyes and fair complexion, and more than half his body was covered by a white bodysuit. What wasn't covered by it was encased in green armor; however, his chest was covered by a green vest. A jetpack-like device was attached to his back. His helm was unique in its design because of the two wing-like appendages that stuck up from its sides. "Shut up Harpuia. I didn't ask for your opinion."

The navi wasn't even phased by his netop's rude response. "Well that's too bad. Because you're going to get it whether you like it or not!"

Sam groaned. "Whatever. But believe me sis, I know. I just don't like going to sleep straight away like you do."

"Regardless, you still need to-"

"Now, now, I do believe that's enough bickering you two."

All six heads turned towards the kitchen door frame. In it, a man stood; his brown hair was brushed out and his blue eyes gleamed with amusement. A lab coat was draped over his blue button-up shirt. A pair of long, and seemingly worn blue jeans covered his legs. To complete the outfit, a pair of brown dress shoes enveloped his feet.

Lyra's eyes gained an excited gleam. "Gramps!"

Her grandfather laughed. "Good to see you too Lyra. I'm guessing you slept well?"

The brunette female nodded. "Yeah, I did. How was your day yesterday?"

"Good. How was your-"

He was rudely interrupted by Lee. "Hey! You haven't forgotten about us, right?"

Dr. Matsurba laughed again. "Of course not my boy! But you have to remember that today is a very special day for your sister."

Lee blinked. "Oh yeah. It is, isn't it?"

Lyra blinked. She held her head between her hands as she struggled to remember what made that particular day so significant. _Wait, what's so important about today? Umm… I remember getting really excited about something last night, but now I can't remember…darn it!_

Nathaniel chuckled at his granddaughter's perplexed face. "Oh my!" he started in mock despair, "Don't tell me that my own granddaughter forgot her own birthday! For shame, Lyra. For shame!"

Lyra felt a spark ignite in her brain. _Oh yeah, that's right! My birthday's today. Man, that's positively pathetic on my part…wait, what? _

Lyra' head shot up. "Wait, I didn't forget! I was just drowsy! That's all! Really!"

Her siblings and her grandfather laughed as her attempts to make them believe otherwise became more and more incoherent and pointless.

Finally, Lyra just shut her mouth and sighed. "You know what? I give up. I'm just going to shut up before I say something stupid."

"Well, you technically already did, but that hardly matters. Happy fourteenth birthday Lyra," as those words left Nathaniel's mouth, he dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a midnight black ring box. His granddaughter's eyes nailed themselves to the box as he set it down in front of her. A metallic red Z adorned the top of the box. Around her, the other Matsurba siblings also began staring at the box with the same sort of fascination as their sister. Sam even abandoned the eggs he had been cooking just to get a glimpse of his sister's gift.

After a minute or two of silence, Lyra managed to articulate a coherent response. "Gramps is this actually-"

"I don't know. How about you open it up and find out?" her grandfather urged.

For a few seconds, Lyra mentally prepared herself for the possibility that the box didn't contain what she hoped it did. With a breath of slight apprehension and excitement, she popped open the box's lid. Once it was open, the oldest Matsurba sibling let out a gasp.

Sitting inside the two cushions that held it upright, a metallic red chip gleamed in the artificial light of the room. It was no larger than a battle chip, but it looked more like a computer chip. A blue-green crystal was inlaid in the chip's center. Lyra's fingers brushed across the surface of the chip, allowing the cold metal to nip at her fingertips.

Te brunette continued to stare at her gift while her siblings observed her movements and changing expressions. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Lyra plucked the chip out of the box with a level of caution that made her feel like she was handling some sort of priceless artifact. She cradled the chip in her palms, an incredulous and disbelieving expression still plastered onto her face.

"Gramps… I don't know what to say," she said in barely a whisper.

Her grandfather smiled. "There's no need to say anything. This is something you've been waiting in for a while, isn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

"It's alright," her grandfather soothed, "Go ahead and download it."

A smile managed to work its way onto Lyra's face. She shakily reached into the holster on her hip and drew out her PET. With a giddy smile on her face, she slid the chip into the chip port on the side of her PET. The instant the chip was inside the hand-held device, multiple screens began popping up on the homepage, ranging from data charts to streams of code. Lyra's standard navi disappeared in a shower of particles as the monitor began to overflow with data. After a moment or two, a progress bar appeared on the PET's screen. It only took about two minutes for the bar to fill, but once it did, the screens simply disappeared from the homepage one by one. Lyra's standard navi reappeared after the last panel disappeared.

Lee blinked. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Of course it's supposed to happen. Remember when I got Harpuia? It took a whole day just for the program to properly download."

"Oh yeah! It did, didn't it? Oh man, I can't wait until we see what it's like!" the younger boy gushed.

Lyra and her siblings chuckled at their brother's childish excitement. Everyone in the family knew that Lee got excited over new netnavis. They all suspected that it was because he had yet to get one of his own, but the actual reason was still up for debate.

She looked down at her screen again, this time with a frown on her face. Her grandfather noticed this and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Lyra, are you alright? You don't like it, do you?"

The scientist's granddaughter looked up at him with a weak grin. "No, I love it. It's just that you know that you can't replace my mother, right?"

Nathaniel's eyes gained a pitiful look. He should have expected that she would still be grieving. "Of course not. I know that a single netnavi could never replace your mother. I was just hoping that a companion would give you someone to talk to."

Lyra nodded and stood up. "I understand. But you have to know that my outlook on life isn't exactly…hopeful, right now."

Her siblings cast sorrowful gazes at her. Nathaniel sighed. "I know. I just don't want to see you upset."

Lyra shut her eyes and gave a small smile. "Thanks gramps; I appreciate the concern. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to school."

"We need to get to school too sis!" Lyra barely heard the yell from her brother as she ran out of the kitchen and into the main hallway. She snatched her bag off a hook and shot out the front door. The young female dashed down the block towards her school.

_I don't need anyone's pity! Besides what do they know? It's not like they lost their mother! _She mentally screamed. Tears began to pour out her eyes on their own accord, and Lyra paid them no heed. The brunette continued running, her feet pounding over the fallen leaves on the sidewalk. On the way to her school, she ran past Alicia, who was startled by her sudden passing. The silver haired female stared after the her with a incredulous expression on her face. After a while, Alicia finally realized that Lyra had been crying when she ran past. Her startled expression turned to a determined one and she began to sprint in order to pursue her new friend.

* * *

By the time Lyra got to school, her tears had dried. The young girl had doubled over and she was panting. _Stupid. Freaking. Stamina! Darn me and my idiotic weakness! _She thought bitterly. The girl staggered up the steps, wheezing and fighting for every breath she took. She was going so slow that one would almost think each stair was made of quicksand. Once she got to the top of the staircase, she took in a large breath in order to slow down her heartbeat. After a few breaths, she deemed herself able to walk the last few meters to her classroom.

As she entered the room, many of her classmates gave her strange looks, probably because she looked absolutely exhausted. She pointedly ignored them in response and proceeded to her seat unhampered. The brunette took to reclining in her chair, occasionally casting glances to her PET. Each time she did so, a smile would tug at the corners of her mouth. However, she wouldn't let it take over her neutral expression.

A few minutes later, Alicia sat down beside her. The seemingly goth female cast a scrutinizing glance at Lyra, who in turn took to ignoring her. Alicia growled and let her temper blaze.

"What the heck was that earlier? You were crying."

No answer escaped the green-eyed girl, and that only annoyed the silver-haired teen even more.

"What the heck is with you? Yesterday, you were actually kind of friendly, and now you're just flat out ignoring me! Say something you stupid jerk!" Alicia roared.

By now, the whole class was string at the duo with a strange expression. Alicia immediately silenced herself and cast a glare around the room. Lyra, on the other hand, had an indifferent expression on her face as she idly flicked the pencil on her desk.

"Great," Alicia growled out, "now we just made ourselves look like fools. Thanks a lot Lyra."

"Technically, you're the one who made a fool of yourself. After all, you were yelling," Lyra responded flatly.

Alicia helplessly threw her hands into the air. "Okay, I give up! You choose now to talk! Thanks a lot; that would have been a whole lot more useful two seconds ago!"

Lyra rolled her eyes dismissively. "Whatever. It's not my problem. Man, for it being my birthday, my day sucks."

"Ha! Says you-wait, repeat that last part."

Lyra said her next words slowly. "Today. Is. My. Birthday. Comprendes?"

Alicia squealed and threw her arms around her companion's shoulders. "Oh my gosh! Happy birthday!"

"Uhh, mood change much?" Lyra groaned.

She sat back down. "Sorry, that's normal for me. It's part of why I don't have many friends."

Lyra frowned. "That's weird."

The silver haired girl next to her raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, back at my school in the US, my friends and I were the weird people, but that didn't stop us from becoming friends. You could say that we were the outcasts of our school."

Alicia looked down in deep thought. "Now that you mention it, that is a bit odd. But moving on, what did you get for your birthday?"

Lyra felt a small smile work its way onto her face. She held up her PET in response.

Alicia didn't understand. "I don't get it. What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"My grandfather gave me a personalization program for my navi. I just installed it this morning," Lyra explained.

"That's amazing! You hear that Kitsune? We're going to have a new friend soon!"

The navi, though obscured by Alicia's holster, nodded thoughtfully in response. "Yes, that is wonderful news. I look forward to meeting them when the program finishes installing."

Lyra let herself chuckle. "Well then you'll be waiting a while. The personal program usually takes a whole day to properly install itself, and that's not even counting the time that it takes just to start up!"

"Well that's unfortunate," the foxlike navi groaned.

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait then!" Alicia cheered happily.

At the moment, Mrs. Isabel walked in. The classroom went silent and class began.

* * *

Just like the day before, the bell rung right at three o'clock. Students began to leave the room to head home for the day.

Lyra and Alicia were packing up their materials. "Hey Alicia," Lyra began.

The silver haired girl turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

Lyra forced down the lump in her throat. "Why didn't you nag me about why I was crying during lunch? It would have been the perfect time to ask."

"Well," she started. Alicia placed another book in her bag before she continued, "I just figured that you wouldn't want to answer. I wasn't going to pry it out of you."

Lyra blinked. "Oh."

Silence hung in the air between them. The only noises emitted were those of the bags rustling as objects were placed inside them. Eventually, Lyra spoke again. "Thanks."

"For what?" her companion inquired.

"For being a good friend. Most people back home would either just attempt to pry answers out of me or nag me until I talked. So thank you."

Alicia smiled. "You're welcome."

Lyra also allowed herself to smile. A few minutes later, both girls were making their way downstairs to the ground floor of the school building. By now, most of the hallway traffic had died down, so they left without getting shoved.

Just as they were about to exit out of the building, a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Sis!"

Lyra turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. When she did, she saw her siblings rushing towards her along with a few other people that she didn't recognize.

Alicia gave her a questioning look. Lyra dismissed it with a simple wave of her hand. "They're just my siblings. Do you want to meet up tomorrow before class?"

Alicia nodded in return. "Yeah. See ya then!"

With that, the silver-haired girl was gone.

Her siblings ran up to her. Elizabeth immediately hugged her older sister around the waist. "Sis!" she chimed happily.

Lyra hugged her sibling back. "Hey Lizzie."

"Are you doing okay?" Sam inquired.

Lyra smiled. "Yeah. That is, if you're referring to how I was in comparison to this morning."

Her brother smiled. "Well that's a relief. You had us worried out of our minds when you ran out like that. You're sure you feel alright?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. You don't have to be a over protective brother you know."

"Whatever."

"So who was that with you a few moments ago sis?" Lee asked curiously.

"Just a friend. And I should be asking you all who these people," Lyra gestured to the kids with them, "are."

Sam answered her. "Oh. These are some of the friends I made. They wanted to meet you since I bring you up in conversations a lot."

Lyra flushed in embarrassment. "Sam!"

Her brother ignored her, but the triumphant smirk on his face made Lyra want to strangle him. A young girl, possibly a year or two younger than Lyra, stepped forward. The most distinguishing thing about her was her magenta-colored hair, making her easy to identify in a crowd. "Hi, I'm Maylu. Your brother talks about you a lot. It's really great to meet you in person. This is my netnavi Roll."

Maylu held up her pet to reveal a pink female navi standing inside. She had blond hair and kind green eyes, but Lyra knew from just the look in her eyes that she could have quite a temper. "It's nice to meet you Lyra," she greeted with the same courtesy as her netop.

Lyra nodded in return. Next to step up was a boy who looked to be the same age as Maylu. However, he was much larger, for lack of better words, than his friends. "My name's Dex and I'm the best netbattler in this school," at that statement, a boy with brown hair covered his mouth, probably to hold back his laughter. Dex either did not notice this or choose to ignore it, "This is my netnavi Gutsman."

Inside his PET, a bulky, yellow, red, and gray navi stood. His upper body had to make up at least half of his body weight. His arms were large and thick, almost like tree trunks. However, like in the case of his netop, Lyra suspected he was all brawn and no brains. "Guts!" he grunted in what was probably a hello.

"Uhh…hi," Lyra responded weakly.

A blond haired young girl wearing a red dress stepped up to the Lyra. She was half the brunette's size, but Lyra could tell that she was the stereotypical rich kid of the group. "My name is Yai Ayano," she began, "my dad's the owner of AyanoTech, so I'm kind of rich."

At that, the same brown haired boy scoffed, and Lyra was pretty sure she heard him say "Kind of?" And she was also quite sure that he was being sarcastic.

"Anyhow," she continued, "this is my netnavi Glyde."

A brown navi with slat-like protrusions extending from his back bowed to her politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Lyra. You're brother speaks quite highly of you and your net battling abilities."

Lyra sweat dropped at that one.

The last to introduce themselves was the brunette Lyra had heard laughing before. He had spiky brown hair and enthusiastic brown eyes. Most of his hair was held out his face by the sky blue bandana he wore around his forehead.

"I'm Lan! Lan Hikari! It's nice to meet ya! This is my netnavi Megaman!" he brandished his PET, revealing a sapphire blue navi with green eyes. The navi waved at her in greeting.

Lyra nodded in return. _Hikari, huh? This must be Dr. Hikari's son. Well, this will certainly make my life more interesting._

"Well, it's nice to meet you all, but my siblings and I have to be heading home. C'mon, let's go," with that Lyra turned and left. The brunette heard Sam say goodbye to his friends before running after her along with their younger siblings.

Sam walked up on Lyra's right side. "Sis, I know you don't like social interaction that much, but was it really necessary to leave so fast?"

His sister sighed. "I don't mind you hanging out with your friends Sam, but we all have homework to do tonight. Not to mention you have a research paper due tomorrow, and you haven't even started on it."

Sam flinched. "How the heck do you know that?"

"I've had Harpuia keep an eye on you when you do your homework. And for the past few days, he's been telling me that you have a paper to work on," Lyra explained.

"Harpuia! Why did you tell her?" Sam whined as he got out his PET.

The green navi on his PET's screen sighed. "Sorry, but you have to be watched. If your sister doesn't trust you to do your homework, then neither do I."

Sam threw his hands up into the air. "That's it. I give up."

Lyra and her siblings chuckled at their brother's open declaration of surrender as they continued walking home.

* * *

Later that night, Lyra was cooking dinner. She tossed a disc of pizza dough into the air and caught it on the tips of her fingers. She threw it up again and repeated the process. Pizza ingredients were scattered around her work area, ranging from cheese to pizza sauce.

At the kitchen table, Sam, Lee, Ash, Trey, and Elizabeth were talking over their homework assignments. Sam had finally started on his research paper, Lee, Ash, and Trey were working on math homework together, and Lizzie was drawing something for her art project. Lyra would occasionally look over to make sure her siblings were doing their homework, but she knew that Harpuia would keep them in line.

A half an hour later, Lyra set a cooked pizza down in the center of the table. She also set down some spiral cheese bread, which she had made after preparing the pizza. Her siblings eagerly snatched slices from the tray. Pizza happened to be a Matsurba family favorite, and Lyra always made the best.

As they ate, the siblings began talking amongst themselves. "So when do you think Gramps will b home tonight?" Ash inquired.

Despite having a sting of cheese hanging out of his mouth, Lee answered him. "I bet it'll be really later before he gets back. We all know how many late shifts he's had this week."

"True that," Lyra muttered. Nods of agreement echoed her statement.

The brunette stood up. "Well, I'm done."

Her siblings looked down at her plate. "But sis," Trey began, "You haven't even had a full piece of pizza."

It was true. Lyra had only taken a few bites out of her slice of pizza, and even then, those bites might as well have been nibbles. The other piece of pizza and the cheese bread she had torn off hadn't even been touched.

Sam frowned at his sister. "You aren't becoming anorexic, are you Lyra?"

"No, of course not! I'm just not very hungry tonight. And besides, I have a lot homework to do," his sister soothed. Sam continued to give Lyra a scrutinizing look as she walked, "Remember Trey, it's your and Lee's turn to do the dishes tonight."

Her brother nodded as she walked upstairs.

* * *

Lyra was stuck. The math problems her teacher had given her were really hard, and she had never been good at algebra in the first place.

Lyra's stomach growled. The brunette frowned and ignored it. _I'm not hungry! I don't need the stupid food! _Lyra pushed the thoughts of hunger aside and re-focused on her math problems. As she rolled her pencil in between her fingers, she was completely oblivious to the fact that her PET had turned itself on.

Her netnavi's monotone voice broke the silence of her room. And miraculously, it was ignored as well. "Your personal program is now ready. Installing…"

As screens began to pop up on the homepage of the PET, Lyra continued to focus on her homework. _So first I distribute…then I add…or is it subtract? Darn it, I've always sucked at algebra!_ The brunette broke her pencil in irritation. She looked down at the broken pieces of the pencil in her palm and let out a growl of annoyance. She grabbed another one out of her supply container and resumed working. A small "beeb" sounded from her PET, but it went ignored.

As Lyra continued to glare down at her paper, a male voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Need some help?"

Lyra glared at her PET. "No! I do not need any help…or…assistance?"

Lyra stared at her PET in wonder. Staring back at her was a humanoid navi. His armor was mostly red and black. The most noticeable thing about him was his long blond hair and finned helm.

The brunette blinked a few times. "Aahh…"

The new netnavi rolled his eyes. "Oh boy."

"WHAT THE HECK?"

Lyra picked herself off the floor and sat back down in her chair. The red netnavi was still staring at her. Lyra had a feeling that he was analyzing her with those piercing blue eyes of his.

Silence reigned for a little while as Lyra tried to form a sentence that would at least be coherent.

"So," she began, "who exactly are you?"

The netnavi inside her PET was silent for a moment or two before answering. "Zero."

Lyra cocked her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"Zero," he repeated, "My name is Zero."

* * *

**A/N: God, that took a while. I apologize for the long wait everyone. I was suffering from minor writer's block, and unfortunately, high school has kept me pretty busy as well. Regardless, please R & R this chapter. If you have any requests or questions, please PM me. Until the next chapter is up, this is Eclipse2012 logging out!"**


End file.
